Who'd Suspect a Hufflepuff
by KenzieMa
Summary: After losing the war Hermione and Harry are left as two of the last alive. In a desperate bid for their survival they travel back in time to kill Tom Riddle before he makes his first horcrux. Using cunning and intelligence learned from their time at war they work to save the world before it has even begun to fall. Lucky for them, everyone overlooks the Hufflepuffs.


::French::

~ _Parseltongue~_

 _Sign Language_

They were losing the war. At this point it was not another of Harry's pessimistic claims but a tried and true fact. After Dumbledore was killed by Voldemort at the Department of Mysteries and Snape revealed his true allegiance to the Dark it started to go downhill. The Order lost its leader and its spy in one fell swoop and it had them spinning. It hadn't been safe enough to return to Hogwarts for their second year. Despite Molly's pleading they were low on able fighters and there really wasn't any option left but to let everyone who was will fight. One by one they were picked off. The first was Ginny, in the madness following her death the twins were angry enough for retribution and only ended up getting themselves killed too. Next was Remus, the last tie to his family Harry had left, his surrogate godfather in the wake of Sirius's death. It very dearly broke Harry, but he refused to let himself grieve until the fight was over, or he himself died. There were no other options. Despite their desperation it wasn't until Ron joined his sister and the twins in an explosion that took out nearly half the remaining order that he and Hermione came to a decision. They knew that messing with time was messy business, but at this point, even if they wiped out their own existence they would be taking Voldemort and his army of monsters with them.

It was a rather simple plan, in that, they had not been bothered to really plan it out all that much before trying it. They were too hopeless, too desperate, if Harry and Hermione were ripped to pieces in the space time continuum then so be it, there was nothing left for them to live for at this point anyway. So with Hermione's beaded bag, Harry's backpack with the same charms, their wands, the sword of gryffindor and a whole lot of dark magic, they left 1996 and arrived in 1943.

They were unsure it it had worked at first, as the forest around them changed very little, but when Hermione cast a tempus charm to check the date, she fell to the ground in a fit of relieved tears. Harry sank down next to her, carefully pulling his sobbing best friend into his arms as silent tears ran down his own cheeks. They had honestly not expected it to work, but right there, in glowing letters and numbers hovering before their eyes **12:00 am June 21, 1943** midnight on the summer solstice 1943, exactly fifty three years in the past from when they left.

With a shuddering breath Hermione wiped her face on her sleeves and turned in Harry's arms, a determined look on her face. Harry couldn't help but smile at it, as it was one he had not seen in the month since Ron died, or really much at all since the whole thing had begun over a year ago.

"Harry, we need to plan. I know we were desperate to get here but it was stupid of us not to have done more before we tried to get here." Harry reached up and smoothed out the crinkle that appeared between her brows and shook his head in exasperation.

"Hermione, we _did it._ We successfully did something that has never been done in recorded history,... which may be a good thing considering that probably means if anyone did, they were successful in changing history… regardless, yes we didn't plan on actually surviving the trip here, but we _did!_ Enjoy it a moment before you start to worry so much." Hermione's face softened and then took on a peculiar look. Before Harry really knew what was happening she was full out laughing, a joyous, honest sound. It was balm to Harry's very much broken soul and, still hugging his remaining friend close, he joined her. They were alive and it was absurd, it was impossible, it was _wonderful._

All things considering, they did very well for not having made plans before arriving. Once they had calmed down they set to work setting up the tent Hermione carried around in her bag. Snape had made the usage of Grimmauld place impossible, so Order meetings were often held in randomly chosen forests in one of the many wizarding tents the members owned. By the end of their time there he, Ron and Hermione, then just he and Hermione, had been practically living out of theirs.

In a fit of brilliance towards the end of things, Hermione had insisted they go to Gringotts and make some withdrawals. Of the little planning they did, this was the biggest point. At sixteen an emancipated minor could claim any of his family monies, properties and titles. Thanks to the Triwizard tournament, Harry was an emancipated minor. They knew that the titles would not carry over to the past, since there were still Potters alive, but taking the money and useful books and artifacts from the desolate future would only help them. So three days before they were set to attempt the ritual Harry used his considerable amount of power to apparate the two of them directly onto the steps of Gringotts. While walking through the ally would have been suicide, in an attempt by Voldemort to keep the goblins out of the war, Gringotts was neutral territory. Quite a few people in the bank jumped at their arrival, one of them, much to Harry's perverted pleasure, was Lucius Malfoy. Knowing the man could do nothing to them while they stood on Gringotts property, he turned up his nose at the blonde and marched up to a teller. Hermione had scolded him for it at the time, but upon looking back on it once they had succeeded, she had found it amusing.

The Goblins, interestingly enough, wanted Harry to to a full inheritance test. Much to his surprise, he was the heir to much more than just the Potter vaults. He also held the lordships of Peverell, Black and Gryffindor. Black was not by blood, so he could not use it in the 40's, but Gryffindor and Peverell were so, along with everything within the many vaults, they kept the newfound information in the backs of their minds. Now, having succeeded, Hermione wondered if perhaps the Peverells had been without an heir for over fifty years. If there were none in this time, Harry could claim the lordship, which would work much to their advantage.

Within the week they had a decent plan in place. The first part of their plan hinged on Hermione's considerable skill with potions. Out of necessity in the past year Harry had become quite adept in many fields of magic that before had merely been school work before. Despite this, he never did get the hang of potions, so that left the work to Hermione. The second part of their plan was an honest to Merlin random stroke of luck, as both he and Hermione were quite fluent in French. Hermione due to many summers spent in France as a child and Harry due to, in part a kind primary school teacher who noticed his fascination with the language, and in another part due to his continued practice with it during his fourth year with the Beauxbatons students. As they were both quite rusty, they deigned to only speak in the language unless absolutely necessary to do otherwise, they needed to be in the habit of using it first before English, lest they be found suspicious.

The plan was to appeal to the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, Headmaster Dippet, and be allowed to transfer as an orphaned set of twins from France. To avoid having to make more complex lies, they would claim that they had been orphaned before the actual war, never knowing their parents, and had been staying with a foster family, who had been homeschooling them in lieu of the war, before they was killed by some of Grindelwald's men in a raid. It would take some very complex, and somewhat illegal potions to make them blood siblings, but they had stopped caring for labeling magic as Dark, and therefore out of bounds, when it could be very useful. Now, the reason this particular potion was illegal was because it could be used to steal a title or monies that were not originally yours by blood. One could "join" a family and then kill the heir and head and gain the title quite easily. Seeing as Harry wanted to share his titles and monies with Hermione, they didn't very much care that it could put them in Azkaban for making.

By the end of July their backstory was known well enough to tell it while asleep and the potion was finished. They would take the potion and then head to Gringotts to claim anything they could.

::Harry, this potion is considered Dark for another reason besides line theft:: Hermione's said as she held out a vile of said potion. ::It's also considered Dark for the amount of pain it causes and the fact that you can't take pain relievers with it. It's changing your very DNA as well as your family Magics.:: Harry looked thoughtful and a tad bit frightened at this, but took the vial anyway.

::I can deal with a little pain. It can't be worse than being _crucio_ ed.:: Hermione nodded grimly before lifting a matching vile to her lips.

::Bottoms up.:: With that they drank. It was not foul tasting as had been expected. Especially considering the last potion they took that included human DNA had been polyjuice and _that_ was a nasty concoction. The lack of awful taste was soon forgotten in the waves of unrelenting pain that washed over them. Harry vaguely thought that he was glad they had the forethought to lay down before beginning. It felt as if their very being was being split apart and sewn back together again. Their very magic was mixing and it hummed with great force around their convulsing forms. Their magic was something they had not considered heavily, as, having both been muggle-raised, they knew little of what family magics really were. Hermione was being accepted by the family magics Harry carried with him, and Harry was doing the same. This influx of power did nothing to stop the great pains they were both enduring.

After what felt like an eternity of pain it ended with a crack of magic and twin groans. Harry was the first to speak, his voice hoarse from screaming. ::I was wrong, that was much worse than _crucio.::_ Hermione actually laughed at that, it was a weak laugh, but she laughed all the same. With another groan she rolled herself into a seating position. She conjured, with slight difficulty, which she chocked up to the potion, a mirror, in order to study the changes, but fell into another, more boisterous, bout of laughter as soon as she saw her hair.

::Harry I believe we forgot to consider the effects of mixing my curls with your eternal case of bedhead.:: Harry groaned at that and rand a hand through his hair, not surprised to find it now a bed of ring curls.

::Should I even look? Or should I just stay here and hope no one mistakes my head for a birds nest when we get to Hogwarts?:: Hermione poked him for that and went back to studying her face. The most noticeable change, aside from her now much darker, and if possible, more wild hair, was her eyes. Where they had previously been a solid chocolate brown, they were now hazel, more on the green side of hazel. Her bone structure had not changed drastically, as she could still see herself in this new face, but her nose was most certainly more a-line and her cheekbones more prominent, most likely from Harry's pureblood ancestors. She was pleased to see that she had not lost her freckles, as they were something she had always loved and had inherited from her mother. Once she felt steady enough she stood up and elongated the mirror so she could see her whole body. Seeing as both she and Harry were lacking in height, she was not surprised to see she was still quite short. It was harder to find differences in her body when she had less to compare to. She knew that anything new in this department would come from Harry's mother or grandmothers so she was unsure what to look for. After a few minutes of staring she could not name any noticeable differences aside from the fact that her fingers were a bit slimmer and her shoulders a bit less broad. Having finished looking herself over she turned to study her friend, well, brother.

Harry had not followed Hermione's example and had conjured a mirror, also having slight difficulty but not bothering to mention it quite yet, it was probably nothing… Looking back from the mirror was a very odd sight to Harry, as it was simultaneously him and very much _not him._ With a great amount of relief he found that he still had his mother's luminous green eyes, but he no longer looked like a carbon copy of James Potter. Where his face had been more ovular like his father's, it was now much more angular. His strong jawline was something he recognized from photos of Hermione's father and the smattering of freckles from her mother. And his _hair._ Neither of Hermione's parents had ridiculously curly hair, but apparently it was a dominant trait. What had once been a head of windswept and perpetually roguish dark hair was now a mop of raven curls. His normally rather pale skin had darkened a few shades and now much more closely matched Hermione's. His cheekbones and nose still had a very familiar aristocratic air that he attained from his father's side of the family and he was glad to still have at least that. When he stood up to take in the full picture he was somewhat disappointed to find that he had not gained any height, he bemoaned his measly five feet and seven inches, he was, at least, still taller than hermione, who stood at five foot two. Much like hermione, there was not too much difference in his overall body. His shoulders were a tad broader and he noticed that the freckles across his nose did not only lie on his face, but heavily across his shoulders and spattered randomly around the rest of what he could see of his body while in his nightclothes.

Having finished his examination of his new look he turned to Hermione and gasped. Looking at her with his new reflection still visible in the corner of his eye, they really did look like they could be twins. For as long as he could remember Harry had wanted a family and while he had alway considered Hermione a sister in his heart, having her be one of his blood took his breath away. His breath hitched and in a flash of movement he had Hermione in a tight hug. Hermione looked a bit surprised at this, as, thanks to the Dursleys, Harry was not usually one to initiate contact when not required or when not comforting someone else. With a smile she returned the hug, feeling her magic humm around them in an echo of how it had while the potion was at work.

::Hermione you've always been like a sister to me and I can't say how happy I am for you to really be my sister by blood.:: He pulled back from the hug and began to study her face, looking for every little piece that came from him. ::I know it's stupid but I've always wanted to have family that was actually related to me and not only by choice, and the fact that you are now my sister by choice and by blood means a lot to me.:: Hermione pulled on one of his new curls with a smirk.

::It is rather nice to have this connection with you when everything and everyone else we've known is either dead or not yet born yet.:: She placed her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of belonging she found with him. They were a family in everything _and_ blood.

One thing Hermione had been dreading about going to the past was the fact that she would be a _woman_ in the past. It was entirely unfair that she could not enjoy the forties in the same way as Harry would. Well, she had assumed this would be the case, and in their brief trysts to the muggle world this _was_ true, but not so much in the Wizarding World. Hermione was unsure why it had never occurred to her that for a society stuck in the middle ages when it came to wardrobe and architecture the Wizarding world was very equal between men and women. Lucky for her she had the entire libraries of the Peverell, Black, Gryffindor, and Potter vaults, as well as her own considerable collection of books to find an answer in. It turned out to be a rather simple explanation. Unlike with muggles, where physical strength had caused the divide, witches could be just as, or more powerful than any wizard, so they were not treated as inferior on principal. It was a breath of fresh air when they left muggle london and made their way to Diagon Alley. Their twenty first century muggle attire was hidden under inconspicuous wizarding cloaks as they made their way into the Alley. They had decided to keep their first names, Harrison and Hermione, as, with the particular houses they would be heirs of, their parents would most likely have been english. Their surname, however, would be that of the "French squib caretaker" who had taken them in. So they entered Gringotts arm in arm as Hermione Jean and Harrison Evan Morin. The goblins accepted their story, though looked a bit wide eyed at the amount of money they had on their persons hidden away in, featherlight and undetectably extended, money bags. Their new vault was under the family name, Morin, and they were the only two with access. They were glad that the vault automatically extended when filled, as they had a lot of things with them that took up a lot more space than galleons, namely, books. Until they had a home of their own, most of the more, questionable, books were to be kept in their vault.

After they had gotten the new vault and deposited their valuables they requested to do an inheritance test. The results were much more surprising than they had expected. While the two of them did now share the Potter, Gryffindor and Peverell lines, they also shared two others, two new ones, unknown ones. Dagworth-Granger and most surprisingly, Ravenclaw. Hermione gaped and Harry laughed.

::You know love, that explains so much about you. It's in your blood to be a bookworm!:: Hermione sent him an unamused look, before once more turning to gape at the titles. The goblin that had administered the test looked equally shocked. After all, it is not every day that you meet the heir of not one, but two of the founders. To his credit, the creature got back on task immediately.

"You two may claim the titles of Peverell, Dagworth-Granger, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw, Potter currently has a Lord with two sons, the eldest in line to inherit, so you can claim affiliation with the Potter family, but you will have to title." Harry nodded, having expected to hear as much before they arrived. "Now, while Peverell and Gryffindor always go to the eldest male child, Dagworth Granger always goes to the eldest regardless of gender and Ravenclaw always goes to the eldest female of the line." Hermione grinned at that, considering that those specific houses had been hers to claim originally and the others Harry's, it worked out almost too well.

"How do we accept the titles?" Hermione's question came out slightly stilted, her english stiff from disuse as they had planned. The goblin offered four boxes he had summoned from places unknown.

"You will place three drops of blood on the ring box for the house you want to claim, if you are accepted as the proper holder of the title it will open." The goblin groused out. Both Hermione and Harry nodded. Harry went to use a small cutting charm on his palm only for it to not work. Now, he would have been worried about his magic, as that was the second time that had happened to him since the ritual, but he could feel his normal power coursing through him when he focused on it.

Hermione had gone to do the same thing as her brother and cast a small cutting charm on her palm, but unlike Harry's, her charm did not sputter out, but instead came out much too powerful, slicing her palm open. She cursed lowly and allowed three drops to land on each of her ring boxes before focusing on stopping the bleeding. Harry, having realized something was up with both of them, stopped her from casting a healing charm and passed her a salve from his bag instead. Having returned the jar back to his backpack when Hermione was done, he summoned a small knife from within it, not wanting to mirror his sister's situation. He made a small cut on his thumb, pressing down to make the blood pool and drip down onto the boxes.

Hermione's boxed had opened first. The Ravenclaw signet ring was decidedly feminine in design, showing the Ravenclaw crest in shining bronze. Upon being placed on Hermione's right index finger, it resized to fit. The Dagworth-Granger ring was more stereotypical in its block cut design. The stylized DG was set in silver. The heavier ring was placed on her right thumb. Harry went next, he first retrieved the Gryffindor ring, as with the Ravenclaw signet ring, it displayed the Gryffindor crest. He placed it to mirror Hermione's founder's ring on his right index finger. The Peverell ring was the most interesting out of the four. Unlike the rest it was an odd obsidian looking stone set into, what Harry guessed to be platinum. Engraved in the stone was a peculiar triangle with a circle and a line. He assumed that this, like the DG on the Dagworth-Granger ring, was in place of a proper crest. Shrugging, he placed the ring on his ring finger, as it was too thin to sit on his thumb. As it resized to fit him he felt an odd sort of magic settle around him, as it had no discernible effects he ignored it, for now.

"Must we wear them on our hands at all times or could I purchase a chain and wear them around my neck?" Hermione asked, unsure how she felt about flashing such prominent Lord/Lady-ships about for anyone (read Tom Marvolo Riddle) to see. The goblin nodded.

"That will serve the same purpose, though I would get one warded against being removed by anyone but you my Lady, otherwise wearing them like that is just asking to get them stolen." Harry agreed with that, and probably would have done so without the suggestion, but he thanked the goblin anyway. "Is that all for today?" The goblin asked curiously.

"We were actually wondering if any of the titles we just claimed came with any properties or vaults." The goblin nodded, pulling a stack of papers, again, from seemingly nowhere.

After two more hours and countless papers signed, the two of them had decided on one of the Dagworth-Granger properties. It's a small three bedroom two bath cottage in Northern Scotland not to far from Hogsmeade. It wasn't until they were wandering through the magical menagerie looking for an owl that Harry got an idea as to what might be the issue with their magic.

They had been popping around trying to find an owl that they both got on with when one Hermione knocked into a shelf full of glass tanks. When a hissing voice called out in annoyance Hermione responded without a second thought, Harry gaped. It was at that point that he realized that the potion had shared more than their DNA, but their magic as well. Seeing as his gift for parseltongue was from Voldemort and not hereditary, there was no other way for Hermione to have gotten it.

::Hey 'Mione don't freak out, but I think you just spoke parseltongue.:: To Hermione's credit she didn't flinch or even look at all bothered at the prospect, merely blinked and tipped her head to the side in question.

~ _Can you understand this Mione?~_ Hermione blinked again, before laughing. Harry looked on confused. Shaking her head she responded.

::You were right in second year when you said it just sounds like somewhat hissy English.:: Harry chuckled at that, it was true. It was then that it dawned on him.

::Hey 'Mione.:: Harry paused, not wanting anyone to overhear what he was about to say, he switched to parsel. There were far too many people who spoke French for that to be safe. _~The potion, it mixes our magic as well right?~_ Hermione nodded, thinking that from her display that was quite obvious, but let Harry continue anyway. _~So what if the issue with our spell casting is just that, with this new magic, our wands don't work for us anymore.~_ Hermione gave Harry an appreciative look, it was always refreshing when he actually used the quite brilliant brain she _knew_ he had.

::That is not a terrible thought Harry, let's go to Ollivanders. We'd have to get our wands registered with the ministry anyway, it's easier to just buy one that already is.:: Harry 'hmmmed' at this and mused on the idea of no longer having a wand with a twin core to Voldemort's.

They were in and out of Ollivander's as quickly as possible because the ole man seemed to _know._ It was rather unsettling really, especially when he went on about how Harry's new wand core took particularly to parseltongue. Hermione was a little startled by her own wand, which had the tendency to do well for Dark magic users. The light core balanced it out, but she was still unsettled. After way too many tries Harry had ended up with a 11 inch Blackhorn and horned serpent horn core wand while Hermione had ended up with a 9 inch ebony and veela hair wand. It was rather odd how different their new wands were, new magic or no. Hermione chalked it up to them growing up during a war and having many of their key traits forged to match their situation. Instead of a wand wood for someone temperamental and adventurous Harry now carried one with a wood suited for a battle-tried warrior and a core that displayed a potential for extremely powerful magics, not to mention its affinity to parseltongue. Hermione used to have a powerful but rather unloyal core and the wood of an overachiever, but now held a wand well suited for combative magics and suitable for someone with firm morals. These wands were tangible proof that they were not the same people they were upon entering the Wizarding world at age eleven only five years ago.

With new wands, a new owl, some era appropriate clothing and enough food for about a week's worth of meals, the "twins" set off to their new home. It was already furnished and the house had a staff of house elves, much to Hermione's chagrin, who had kept the place in good shape for the twenty or so years it had been empty.

Harry, once unpacked, wrote a letter to Headmaster Dippet. The man was quite accommodating and sent them the supply lists for the sixth years. They were told that they would have to take their OWLs to make sure their placement with their age group was appropriate, but they weren't worried. The thing about being at war is that you tend to learn much more than you ever would behind a desk.

They decided to get their supplies at the end of August when the rest of the students tended to in order to observe some of the other students before the start of school. While there were plenty of students around, there were none they recognized until-

"Minerva! Get back here you silly girl." The shout came from a middle aged witch with a very familiar Scottish brogue, the girl she'd shouted at stopped her dash over to the magical menagerie and dejectedly trudged back to her mother. Harry gaped and looked over to see that Hermione did as well.

::Do you think that that's…:: Harry trailed off, watching the dark headed child no older than thirteen as she made her way through the throng of people.

::I do believe it is… I hadn't realized she want to school at the same time as Riddle… think any of our other teachers wil be here?:: Hermione actually looked excited at the prospect. Harry laughed.

::Well, Harris will be here, hopefully we can keep Riddle from getting him expelled… Vector, Babbage, Snape and Flitwick will be too young, Sprout might be in our year or the year below… Oh! Dumbledore's will be a teacher!:: Harry bounced a little in excitement, he hadn't really thought on the fact that their old Heasmaster would still be alive. Hermione grinned.

::Despite our less than wonderful reasons for being here, it will be a wonderful opportunity to learn. After all, despite his meddling, Dumbledore was the best wizard of our time.:: Hermione looked pensive for a moment before turning to Harry in contemplation. ::You know Harry, because you're now here this time period now has three mage level wizards living in Britain, that's a lot of power in one place… I wonder if it'll effect anything?:: She was mostly just musing to herself, but Harry just looked at her like she'd grown another head.

::Me, a made level wizard? What are you on about Hermione?:: His sister huffed at him.

::Honestly Harry don't you read? Witches and wizards capable of exemplary wandless and wordless magic are categorized as mages. Currently yourself, Riddle, Dumbledore and Grindelwald fit that category.:: Harry wasn't sure what to make of this. With a sigh, he decided to leave the topic be, as he really didn't feel like thinking on what exactly that would mean about him. All he ever wanted in his life was to be normal, and even in the Wizarding world he couldn't manage to.

September 1st came upon them before they knew it. Aside from the trunks levitating behind them on the platform, they had their extended bags, which contained things better left unseen by their peers and teachers, shrunken and attached to the chain that carried their Head rings.

They entered the train together, ignoring the mass of families seeing their kids off with hugs and tears. They found an empty compartment at the very end of the train in a hope of being left alone until after the sorting but no such luck. About ten minutes after the train had left the station a small group of well dressed boys looking to be around their age arrived at their door. The first to enter looked surprised to see them sitting there, before his surprise melted into a sneer and together with his very blonde hair, Harry immediately knew him to be a Malfoy. He shot his sister a look and briefly signed Abraxas Malfoy at her. She gave him a look as if to say "well duh" before turning back to the small gathering of future, if not current, Death Eaters.

Learning British Sign Language had been the idea of one of the muggleborm students in the DA fifth year. It was only used by muggles, as there was a magical solution to hearing loss, so none of the Death Eaters would know what it was, and it was dead handy in a situation when you had to say something without non-DA or Order members hearing. As it was, Abraxas just looked confused for a moment before he continued on to say what he had been about to when he stopped to observe the odd hand motions the unknown boy made to the girl who could not have been anything but his sister.

"What exactly do you think you are doing in our compartment? We've designated this one as off limits since second year." Hermione gave an unimpressed look at the snooty blonde. Harry on the other hand was ready to try out his acting skills, for this plan to work he had to convince Riddle of his character, so if he could not trick even Malfoy then he would be screwed. Straightening his back a bit he stood, and much to the shock of the group of boys in front of them, smiled and gave the proper greeting bow to Malfoy.

"We apologize. We are new this year and did not know these seats were already claimed." Malfoy's gaze turned from irritated to curious before mirroring the bow as tradition dictated.

"New students you say?" His drawl was so like his grandson's it was almost eerie. "Well, sit back down then, it wouldn't do for a prefect to be so rude to students new to Hogwarts." With a nod, Harry grinned once more at the blonde and sat himself next to Hermione, leaving the rest of the compartment to be filled by the throng of Slytherins. There were four of them in total, and curiously Tom was not one of them. The other two who entered after Malfoy looked just as interested in the transfer students. One was a stocky boy with short dark hair and eyes to match, and the other had long wavy black hair and silver eyes that nearly made Harry do a double take, for they were the exact same eyes as his godfather's. He mentally cataloged the young man as a black, weather he was Arcturus or Pollux he could not say. Once the three were seated on the bench opposite them Malfoy spoke to them once again.

"Introductions first I think. He looked pointedly at the stocky boy, who introduced himself as Phineas Lestrange. Harry had been correct in thinking the other young man to be a Black, Pollux Black, the younger of the two in this generation. Malfoy confirmed who Harry already knew him to be, Abraxas Malfoy, before the attention was back on them.

"It is an absolute pleasure to meet you all."Harry said with, seemingly, honest enthusiasm. "I am Harrison Evan Morin and this is my sister Hermione Jean Morin. Our parents were English but we were raised in France, thus the english first names and the French surname." Harry informed them with another grin, one which was starting to irritate Abraxas. The boy was decidedly too cheerful. He did look curious about their names, specifically that he did not recognize their surname, French or not, he did not think it was Wizarding.

With a small sneer he asked, "Half-blood or muggle-born?" Harry didn't seem the least bit ruffled at the disdainful tone. His sister however, bristled slightly, much to the blonde's amusement. In that same god awful cheery tone of voice, Harrison answered him.

"Not muggle-born, unsure past that though." Malfoy quirked an eyebrow at that, so the sister, finally speaking, explained further in a very bland, straightforward manner Abraxas appreciated.

"Our parents died when we were very little and left us with an orphanage. We were lucky enough to have been found by a squib woman looking to adopt and who had recognized us as magical. We know we are not muggle born, nor French simply because we both hold titles in the Magical British government." She did not explain further, though the three across from them were now quite curious as to what titles these twins could possible hold. Malfoy was well versed in the comings and goings of the Ancient and Noble houses, so he knew which ones had been thought dead, and could possibly belong to these two. For now he was content to continue questioning the, now much more interesting, transfer students.

"Unfortunate circumstances, growing up with a squib. Though better than a muggle orphanage I'm sure." This made Harry wonder how much the Slytherins knew about Tom's life back in his orphanage.

"So are you transferring from Beauxbatons?" This came from Pollux. It was the first time he had spoken without being directed to by Malfoy, who was apparently in charge when Tom was not around.

Harry shook his head in response, his feet swinging lightly as the hung off the seat. Malfoy sneered at how open the boy's thoughts and emotions could be read on his features, it was decidedly uncultured. At least the girl seemed to have a semblance of control over herself.

"No, mère got us private tutors, she didn't want us leaving the house when not necessary due to the war." Abraxas thought that the boy's lack of socialization explained his unrestrained nature. If they had been practically locked away for number of years the boy would not have been exposed to the normally very composed side of French society, leaving him as a irritatingly bubbly, open book.

"Ah yes, Grindelwald's war. Is that why you have been transferred to Hogwarts? Would it not have been safer to stay locked away?" The last question was said with a slight mocking tone, not that Harrison seemed to notice, or if he did, he didn't care. What was interesting was that, at the mention of Grindelwald and their reason for transfer the boy's damnable smile left for the first time since they had found the twins in their compartment. In response to her brothers (very well practiced) haunted look, Hermione took up the conversation and replied for her brother.

"We were out with one of our tutors when a raid by Grindelwald's men destroyed out home and killed our mère." Her tone turned bitter as she continued. "She was _only_ a squib, a disgrace to her family, if you could call them that." Abraxas was unsure exactly how to respond to that considering he held a similar distaste to squibs as Grindelwald did, so he merely nodded. It would not do to ostracize these new puzzles, especially knowing Tom would want to riddle them out. Luckily for the Malfoy heir, Harrison took note of his sister's tone and felt obliged to lighten the mood.

"We're here now though, which is pretty great. I mean, we never would have bothered looking into our heritage if we hadn't needed somewhere else to go. Not to mention we get to actually go to school!" Hermione brightened a bit at her brother's words, much to the Slytherin trio's relief. Upset women were not something to be trifled with.

"Oh yes, I am ever so excited to see the castle, and I hear the library is _massive."_ Harry laughed at that and muttered ::bookworm:: under his breath in french, receiving a light slap on the arm from Hermione for his effort.

He looked at her with a crooked grin and said, ::Don't you worry Hermione, you wouldn't be you if you weren't excited at the prospect of new books to read.:: Malfoy looked amused at the comment, while the other two sat oblivious as to what was being said, as neither of them spoke French. Abraxas was about to ask them what year they would be in when the door opened once more, this time admitting the familiar face of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Teal eyes scanned curiously over the unknown pair sitting in _his_ compartment before turning to his right hand with a questioning raise of an eyebrow.

"My Lord," Harry and Hermione raised their own eyebrows at this, though Harry looked more amused than his sister, who merely looked curious. "May I introduce Harrison and Hermione Morin, transfer students from France, they're here to because of the war." Tom looked interested, if a bit unimpressed by their names, seeing this, Malfoy continued. "Apparently they are here in Britain due to their parents hailing from here as well as the title that was left to them." Internally Harry grinned at the assumption that there was only one title between them. Had he not been keeping a cover, he would have loved to see the look on Malfoy's face when he realized he was outranked by a half blood and a muggle born descendant of a squib line.

Tom looked more appraisingly at the two, studying them as he introduced himself. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, a pleasure I'm sure." He was pleasantly surprised when his bow was met with a courteous nod from both of them in the proper response. He was slightly taken aback when his cool greeting was met with a very warm, if not downright friendly, smile from the boy.

"It most certainly is Mr. Riddle." Honestly the grin really was slightly disarming. "So are you all in the same house then?" Tom narrowed his eyes, slightly disbelieving that someone could be this friendly with him, as most were rather careful around his person. However, this boy did not know of Tom's reputation around the school, so there was no reason for Harrison to be different to him than he might be with anyone else.

"Yes, we're all in Slytherin, though not all in the same year. Abraxas is a seventh year, Phineas is a fifth and Pollux and I are sixth. What about the two of you? What house do you think you'll be in and what year?" Harry gave an odd look at Lestrange, who was quite large for an incoming fifth year and looked huge compared to his small form.

"Well I don't know all that much about what house I'll be in, though I would bet anything that 'Mione will be in Ravenclaw. We'll be sixth years with you and Mr. Black." Tom looked a little surprised at that. Between their Harrison's rather immature personality and both twin's small forms he would have assumed they were younger than 16. Harry shot him a cheeky grin at his small show of surprise. "Assumed we were younger, no? It's our terrible genetics, we are both cursed with being rather short." Abraxas cut in, a bit confused.

"Genetics?" Hermione sighed and explained to the clueless pureblood.

"Genetics, as in your genes, your DNA, the characteristics you are given from your parents and grandparents and probably share with your siblings, if you have any." Phineas cocked his head to the side in a show of confusion.

"I've never heard of that before, is it French?" Hermione snorted.

"No, it's muggle." The Lestrange boy actually flinched at her response before sneering. His expression mirrored on all the Slytherins but Tom, who probably actually knew what genetics were.

"Muggle lovers then?" Pollux asked sharply. Much to Tom's frustration, Harrison didn't look the slightest bit ruffled by the obvious disdain dripping from his cohort's words. He just shrugged, and leaned back in his chair.

"Not particularly, muggles can be quite vicious when confronted with something they don't understand, more specifically magical children" He grimaced a bit and Tom had to wonder if he was speaking from personal experience. "That's not to say they don't come up with some rather useful and interesting things. Why shouldn't I use whatever's at my disposal, no matter where it comes from?" This was the mindset that had allowed Harry to let himself use Dark magic. If it was helpful, and wouldn't cause lasting harm to him or his, why not use it?

Tom was surprised at the rather Slytherin line of thinking coming from the seemingly oblivious boy. It was then that he remembered Abraxas saying they were escaping the war on the mainland, thinking like this was probably necessary to survive. Harrison Evan Morin and, to a lesser extent, his twin, were quite intriguing indeed. Pollux looked appeased, though his sneer did not disappear fully. Eventually the Prefects, Tom and Abraxas, had to go patrol, leaving the twins with Pollux and Phineas. Pollux didn't seem up to speaking to them again after the genetics comment, and Phineas seemed to generally be a quiet person, so the four of them distracted themselves. The twins chatted in French for a bit before both pulling out books, Pollux was writing something in some journal or another, and Phineas had fallen asleep whilst watching the scenery out the window flash by.

When the Prefects returned they were told to change into their robes, Harry silently conjured a curtain to split the room for Hermione, which caught the attention of Tom once more. Silent casting wasn't terribly difficult for those with a good amount of determination, but conjuring was much more complex and Harrison had done it seemingly without a thought. His sister thanked him quietly in French before slipping behind the curtain. Harrison stripped to his boxers and undershirt without a second thought, wholly uncaring that he was not alone in the compartment. When he realized the others weren't copying him he glanced up.

"What? It's nothing you wouldn't see in the quidditch locker room, or your dorms for that matter." His comment got the others to get a move on, though Tom was still studying the half dressed boy in front of him, more specifically, the many scars littering his body. Most were obviously curse scars, though there were a few that looked older and were harder to guess the origin of. Before he could puzzle it out Harry had buttoned up his shirt and tucked it into his slacks. Realizing he had been staring for a while, he shook himself and changed into his own uniform.

When they were all dressed Harry asked if Hermione was decent before banishing the curtain, again done silently with a lazy flick of his wand. Harry would have been pissed at himself if he realized what he had done, he was supposed to be inconspicuous, but it was a battle hewn habit at this point.

When they arrived at Hogsmeade station minutes later the twins set off with the first years as they had been instructed to do in a letter from the headmaster. Harry thought it was funny that they wanted them to have the 'authentic hogwarts experience' considering it was not, truthfully, their first time in the castle.

It was peculiar, waiting to be sorted with a gaggle of nervous eleven year olds. Short for their age or not, they towered over these children. It was somewhat of a relief when they were called in by the Deputy Headmaster Dumbledore. As they entered the hall with the first years the twins got quite a few stares from the older students. The first years were sorted first before Dumbledore welcomed the Morin twins, transfers from France, to come up and be sorted. With a quip of "ladies first" from the ginger man, Hermione made her way to the stool. It took only moments for the hat to call out "RAVENCLAW" and Harry could only smile. As Hermione made her way to her new house, Harry made his way to the stool.

 _Rather curious, a pair of time travelers, ey? I wasn't on your sister long enough to ask, so why would you… oh god, I can see why you two are trying to fix things._

 _I need to be in Hufflepuff for this to work. Please, I'm trying to save everyone._

 _With courage such as that I should put you back in godric's house, or, you'd be even better suited in Salazar's… but I see what you need, Hufflepuff anonymity. Alright, better be…_

"HUFFLEPUFF" Harry was beaming as he literally skipped over to his new table, his tie turned yellow and black. With no little amount of joy Harry caught the dismissive, and somewhat disappointed, look sent his way by Riddle. Catching his sister's eye across the room he signed.

I did it! Hermione laughed at him practically bouncing in his seat and signed back.

If I didn't know any better I'd say you're enjoying this. Harry stuck out his tongue and then turned back to his new dorm mates, who were happy to include him immediately. Oh the joys of being a Hufflepuff.

After that the plan went off without a hitch. Hermione, in all her brilliance, fought Riddle for the spot of top student in their year, keeping him wholly disinterested in his new academic rival's Hufflepuff brother. Harry was careful to keep his grades average, something he perfected living at the Dursleys' in order to best keep unnoticed. While Riddle wasn't watching, Harry made a wealth of friends; character witnesses for later, Hermione had joked. He managed to befriend students from every house, and even tutored some of the less prejudiced Slytherins

When the first petrification happened in mid November Harry began stage two. It really was a good thing that Harry was such a sentimental person, because the Marauder's Map was a literal godsend. He watched the second year girl's bathroom religiously for Tom until he figured out the boy's schedule for going down to the chamber.

With Hermione acting as a distraction Harry was able to plan. They were unsure when exactly the death of Myrtle Mayors had happened, so Hermione took it upon herself to befriend the fourth year girl in an attempt to keep her from having to hide away in bathroom stalls. Despite this precaution, they knew that it would be best to finish what they came to do sooner rather than later. After the third petrification Harry put their plan into action.

Tom had a habit of going down to the chamber fridays after Slug club meetings. Since Hermione had been quickly added to Slughorn's collection of star students she easily followed Tom one night under Harry's invisibility cloak. When he jumped down the shoot behind the sink she was quick to follow before it closed behind him. She was immensely pleased at the sight she found at the bottom of the shoot. Harry stood, wand trained on the neck of a petrified Tom Riddle. They knew that if they were to follow Tom into the actual chamber they would have to face his Basilisk, so they captured him in the corridor before the main chamber to keep them safe.

Hermione removed the cloak and strode over to where Harry was holding a very furious looking Tom Riddle. When he caught sight of her his glare intensified twofold. She just laughed darkly and, with a flick of her wand, bound him to the wall and undid the _petrificus totalus_ so Tom could speak. She had often scoffed at the tendency villains in novels had to gloat, but at that moment she was seeing the appeal. Unlike in a book, however, she would not make the mistake of allowing him the chance to escape. She strode forwards and clasped a metal cuff rife with runes around his wrist and reveled in the horrified gasp Riddle emitted as he was cut off from accessing his magic.

"Not so much fun being the helpless one in a situation like this is it?" She asked in a mocking tone. In their months there she had become aware of his tendency to torture his followers to ensure obedience.

Tom, despite his fury, was _very_ confused. "How did you get your bumbling brother get down here?" He didn't even look at Harry when he asked, still used to overlooking the Hufflepuff to instead watch the brilliant older twin. Despite Harry being the one who had disarmed and petrified him, he still thought the boy to be an incompetent. Surely, had he expected someone could have been down in his chamber, he would not have been caught off guard. Harry laughed in a very familiar cheerful way that was recognizable from his dalliances around the school. The overly friendly french boy was always heard joking around with other students. The laugh turned Tom's attention from Hermione over to her brother and he flinched back at what he saw.

At first it Harry was the usual giggling Hufflepuff buffoon that Tom had grown to ignore, but in a flash the mask was gone, for he was certain in that moment that it _was_ a mask. In place of the cheerful little boy was a cold, sneering face that looked immensely disturbing on the normally kind boy.

 _~And what makes you think she was the one to get me down here?~_ Harry laughed again at the gobsmacked expression on the normally quite stoic boys face, though this laugh was an alien one to Tom, it was cruel and dark and so, so unlike the Hufflepuff thought he knew.

 _~How? Who are you?~_ Tom demanded, only to be left speechless moments later when Hermione responded.

 _~Now Tom, did you really think yourself so special? Your arrogance has been your downfall.~_ Her laughter, like her brothers, was dark and cruel, though it held a musical quality unique to the witch in front of him. He studied them then. He tried to observe them without any of his preconceived notions held from the months he thought he knew them and saw only what was presented to him right then. It was a terrifying, yet oddly beautiful view.

Hermione had been a very frustrating opponent since her arrival, but she had never once come across as anything but a very intelligent and genial Light witch. Now though, he could feel the waves of her power rolling off her, and it was decidedly Grey. Her brilliance was still there, though he now found himself more intimidated at the possible scenarios her brilliant mind could bring upon him. As much as he appreciated the breathtaking force that was Hermione Jean Morin, her brother was the real contender, and wasn't that the kicker.

Looking back to his time with them on the train he berated himself for ignoring the signs that had been there from the start. Especially when the story they weaved and what he saw didn't match up. Lucius had told him the details of their story after the sorting, of how they had been locked away their entire lives and only came out now due to the death of their gaurdian. He had seen the battle scars on Harrison but upon him being declared Hufflepuff he put it out of his mind as unimportant and let the inconsistencies lie. He could now see how well he had been played, and he was strangely glad that, if this were to be his end, at least he was not bested by fools. Harrison Evan Morin was not an intimidating person normally. He stood nearly a head below Tom on a good day and between his freckles, easy smiles and that ridiculous mop of curls on his head, he resembled a puppy more than anything. No longer. Without the smile the true Harrison shone through. Aristocratic cheekbones stood below piercing green eyes that overcame the naturally genial look of his freckled face. He stood to his full height, not that it was much, with an air of someone who knew his power well. Oh and what power it was. While Hermione carried a wealth of enticing Grey magic, Harrison held an ocean. When the Hufflepuff allowed let his magic go unrestrained, for surely it was held back, Tom would have taken note of such power before, it was nearly intoxicating. Hermione was right, his arrogance had kept this gem from his grasp, though perhaps it was not too late.

 _~You are correct to say that I underestimated you. The both of you, though Harrison especially, hold an impressive amount of power and cunning. How is it that you are not both in my house?~_ Harry could see the gears working in Tom's brain as he looked for a way out of the situation. He nearly laughed when the boy relaxed in his restraints, obviously coming to some sort of resolution, his question only proving the assumption further.

 _~The hat knew of my purpose here and knew that I would need the anonymity of Hufflepuff, I do well in their house despite it not being my best fit.~_ Harry stepped closer to the boy bound to the wall, stopping only a foot from him. _~I'd say it served me well Tom, after all, you still don't understand why we're here, do you?~_ Tom couldn't have broken eye contact if he wanted to, the piercing green gaze too compelling to look away from. In a moment of clarity he slammed up his occlumency shields, and was surprised to find no intrusion on his thoughts. The question got him thinking once more. He really did have no clue why he had been caught by the two. Considering where they were, he made an inference.

 _~As you have cornered me in Slytherin's chamber, I would assume it has something to do with Alyssa?~_ Harrison cocked his head to the side in thought, before continuing.

 _~Something like that, if Alyssa is the Basilisk.~_ The half answer left Tom feeling uneasy. The boy across from him had mentioned a purpose, and there was no way he could have known about Tom's plan for the chamber before arriving. Hermione looked over to her brother and signed something to him, which frustrated Riddle to no end. Being the genius he was, he prided himself on the fact that he spoke a plethora a languages, his downfall was only learning those useful to a witch or wizard. He knew what sign language was from his life in the muggle world, but he had deemed it as unnecessary and _muggle._

 _~My sister has reminded me that we need to get back to our rooms some time tonight to avoid suspicion, so I'm going to end the little Q and A here and instead I'm going to tell you a little story. After all, it wouldn't do for you to die without understanding who killed you and why.~_ Tom stilled at this, he had suspected that they wanted something from him, perhaps even his life, but he had been hoping he was wrong.

 _~Why kill me when you could join me? The three of us together would be unstoppable!~_ Harry only quirked an eyebrow at that, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Hermione rolled her eyes and gestured at her brother to continue talking.

 _~Funny you should say that Tom, as it is not the first time you've offered me to join your little band of genocidal maniacs. The first time was in May of 1991.~_ Tom blanched, his thoughts running a mile a minute before coming to the only logical conclusion.

 _~So I became powerful enough to warrant time travel and risking a paradox?~_ Tom looked quite pleased at the prospect, much to the twin's annoyance.

 _~The Dark Lord Voldemort. A genocidal maniac with the intent of killing off any and all muggles and muggleborns he could get his hands on. You very nearly succeeded.~_ Harry ran a hand through his hair, further messing up the nest of unruly curls. _~It all began with the creation of your horcruxes, the first made with the death of Myrtle Mayors at the hands of your Basilisk, so you see, at this point in time, you are something you were not in our future. You're mortal.~_ Tom shivered at the look in Harrison's eyes, and dread started to crawl up within him. It was right then that he realized how hopeless his situation really was. _~I was prophesized in the future to be your downfall, I've come to make that prophecy reality.~_ Harry spared a glance over to his sister, who gave him a determined nod. Tom could only look on in defeat as Harry turned back and spoke the last words he would ever hear.

"Goodbye Tom. _Avada Kedavra!"_ Tom saggy, lifeless against the restraints and Harry let out a shaky breath before turning back to Hermione. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly against her, shaking as the reality of what they just did sank in. With a jubilant cry she pulled back from the hug to hold Harry at arms length and looked him in the eye.

"We did it Harry James Potter. We saved everyone." Harry met her gaze with a dazed look in his eye before he allowed himself to feel the joy Hermione was expressing. The first true smile to grace his face in years shown at her declaration.

"That we did Hermione Jean Granger, that we did. For once, everybody lives."

They left Tom's body tied up in the entrance to the chamber and made their way to bed in their respective common rooms. When the investigation of Tom's disappearance began Harry wasn't even considered as possibly being the culprit.

After all, who'd suspect a Hufflepuff?


End file.
